Educational and Vocational Guidance in Denmark

egional labour market (136 hours)11. A guidance programme for employees in theunion-based unemployment insurance system(60-120 hours)12. A course on counselling and guidance in specialeducation for adults (200 hours)13. A course for guidance counsellors within theFolkeoplysning area (adult liberal education)(150 hours)14. A course on educational guidance counselling atthe Faculty of Humanities, University of Copenhagen(50 hours)15. Adult guidance counsellor course (offered by afew counties) (135-230 hours).The existence of the first nine of these courses issecured according to Danish legislation. This is notthe case for the rest which, consequently, are dependenton professional and economic priorities of theinstitution offering the course.The first five courses rest on rather detailed legal documents,stating: 1) that there is an obligation to offerthese courses; 2) who is responsible for offering thecourses; and 3) the target group of the courses. Suchspecific details and requirements do not exist in thecase of the other four legally based courses.The courses are offered by various educational institutions:* The Danish University of Education (DanskPædagogisk Universitet, DPU)* The Danish Institute for Educational Training ofVocational Teachers (Danmarks ErhvervspædagogiskeLæreruddannelse, DEL)* Teacher Training Colleges* The Ministry of Education* The Secretariat of the Open Youth Education* The National Labour Market Authority* The Workers’ Educational Organisation(Arbejdernes Oplysningsforbund, AOF)* The Faculty of Humanities at the University ofCopenhagen* The regional guidance committees (VFUs)* Some counties.Most courses are free of charge for the counsellors,the only exception being the adult guidance counsellorcourse. The nine legally based courses are mostlycovered by public subvention.The contents, scope and focal points may differ fromone basic course to another. However, most basiccourses do – to some extent – cover the following fivemain themes:* Guidance theory and methodology* Guidance activities in relation to the guidancecounsellor’s function* Legal framework and the organisation of theDanish guidance system* Educational, vocational and labour marketconditions* Other themes (e.g. communication, IT, theoreticalaspects of project work).The vast majority of the basic courses are divided intomodules, each module focusing on a specific subjectchosen by the participants. Usually there are severalsubjects to choose from, all related to the above-mentionedmain themes. An example of a basic coursewith a wide range of subjects to choose from is theschool and youth guidance education programme37